How National Lottery Trust Fund Chief, Maigari Remains Winner by Betting on Tinubu

In democracies all over the world, there are political figures who stake their all to make electoral victory possible, writes Wada Musa

The victory of Bola Tinubu in the 2023 presidential contest in the country was made possible by so many heroes of that resounding victory, and today, we want to bring to the fore the contributions of Dr Bello Maigari, the Executive Secretary of the National Lottery Trust Fund to make that victory possible.

Before President Tinubu made public his intention to contest the office on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), which he was its national leader, Dr. Bello Maigari was one of the apostles of Tinubu’s political school who staked his office by publicly calling on him to declare for the office of the president. Maigari believed Tinubu was the best man to achieve Nigeria’s greatness, peace, unity, progress, and development.

It is a fact that when other political figures choose to sit on the fence by keeping their supporters guessing on whom among the plethora of speculated candidates and on which platforms they would contest for the seat of the president of Nigeria, Maigari publicly declared his support for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Maigari matched his talk by going ahead to make big billboards displayed publicly in all the capitals and major cities of the 19 northern states and the Federal Capital Territory, seeking the support and endorsement of Tinubu when he finally decided to declare for the presidency. 

To many who are conversant with Maigari’s political philosophies, he is not a man who seeks to support a candidate for the sake of political rent-seeking. As a patriot and leader, he believes that in history, no nation has been able to achieve any substantial leap without a leader with vision, strategic plans, and the credentials to give it quality leadership. 

Maigari believes that as citizens, we have a patriotic duty in our own little way to contribute to the recruitment of quality leaders for our country. Maigari walked his talk by forming and sponsoring many support groups as patron, which he used to galvanise citizens for the candidature of Tinubu when he finally bowed to pressure from people like him to come out and declare for the president of Nigeria. 

He also ensured that as an ambassador of this support group for the president’s victory, the group had a national spread. His support for the president was total,  as he believed that when the president finally became victorious, the country was going to experience many positives. Based on data and evidence from his past political endeavours, Tinubu was not a leader who over-relied on unbridled optimism, hedonistic fatalism and political gimmickry in his dealing with matters of great importance like the development of our country.

His campaign as the president’s political ambassador focused on spreading messages derived from the president’s victory. He said these would be accentuated by his deliberate leadership style, which entails a departure from the usual political sloganeering of the past, which never translated into any positives for the country. 

He believes the overarching vision of the president, his significant development strategies, his key performance indicators as former governor of Lagos State and his past actionable plans and experience as a political leader are the major credentials that would help him overcome the present challenge in Nigeria, which is to make life better for all.

As executive secretary of the NLTF, an interventionist agency that uses the proceeds from gaming to intervene in many areas of needs of our country and an avid believer of the renewed hope programmes of the president, he is using his office to help the president achieve its mandate.